New Brunswick ranks near last in Canada in international student assessment results
In the spring of 2006, 2443 students from 67 schools in New Brunswick participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that tested more than 400,000 students from 57 countries around the world.


PISA was initiated by member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation (OECD) to provide policy-oriented international indicators of the skills and knowledge of 15 year old students. It assesses youth outcomes in three domains: reading, mathematics and science – focusing on what students would do with what they have learned in school, at home and in the community.


In Canada, education is the responsibility of each province and territory. PISA testing and reporting was carried out by the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC), Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Statistics Canada and provincial departments of education.


CMEC is an intergovernmental body founded in 1967 by ministers of education to serve as a forum to discuss policy issues and as a mechanism through which to undertake activities, projects and initiatives in areas of mutual interest. All 13 provinces and territories are members.


The PISA study tells us that all ten Canadian provinces performed at or above the OECD average but the Atlantic Provinces performed significantly below the Canadian average. New Brunswick's performance by 15-year-old students ranked 10th among Canadian provinces in science, 9th in reading and 7th in mathematics.


Students in minority language school systems had lower performance in science compared to those in majority language school systems. In New Brunswick, students in French language school systems performed significantly lower in reading than did students in the English language system. For mathematics, there were significant differences favouring the English language system.


In every province, students with higher socio-economic status, that is those whose parents had higher education and more resources at home tended to have higher performances in science.
In all three domains (reading, math, science), New Brunswick’s scores ranked behind most European countries and they ranked behind China, Japan and South Korea. The top performing country in each domain had considerably higher average scores than Canada and New Brunswick was at the back of the Canadian pack.


To be fair the other Atlantic Provinces didn’t do much better but that does not excuse New Brunswick and its educators. Clearly we have a problem.


The objective of PISA is to test the degree to which students nearing the end of their compulsory education have acquired the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society. In June, Kelly Lamrock, New Brunswick’s Minister of Education, anticipating results of the PISA Report, introduced an education plan known as When kids come first.


The Plan has three goals:
(i) to ensure that every child who arrives at Kindergarten is ready to learn.
(ii) to ensure that by the time a child has completed Grade five, he or she will have the tools to learn i.e. reading, writing and arithmetic and,
(iii) that every child will graduate from high school having had the opportunity to discover their personal strengths and something they love doing. It’s an ambitious plan.


The existing contract between teachers and the government expires in February. Mr. Lamrock is publicly musing that any new money for education will be invested in kids not the “adults in the system”. That said he defends teachers on the grounds they “are doing their best”.


However, implied in some of his statements is the notion that teaching innovation and improvements in student outcomes will be rewarded. That makes a lot more sense than cross the board wage increases or salaries based on years of service.


The PISA study was the third since the year 2,000. Nothing has changed. To address the issue, Minister Lamrock promises to revise the teaching curriculum and to begin tracking school performance. He also promises to apply resources where they are most needed.


These promises sound good but one has to wonder whether they address the real problems in our education system or whether or not we have correctly identified the real problem(s).
Is it our teachers?
Is it our grading program?
Is it the curriculum?
Is it our method of teaching?
Is it a one class, pass all policy?
Is it language?
Does it have something to do with our culture or our socio-economic environment?
Is it the relationship between a parent’s education and the learning aptitude of their children?


As mentioned above, the first goal of the Kids come First program is to ensure that when kids arrive at Kindergarten, they are ready to learn. How will this be achieved? Will government set up early learning centres around the province?



Will government test kids in their homes to make certain they are learning before they go to Kindergarten?


Labour shortages are predicted for all four Atlantic Provinces in the next few years. The population is aging and shrinking at the same time. In Atlantic Canada, the birth rate is below the national average and the region is now just 7% of the total population of Canada according to Statistics Canada.

We can’t afford an education system that streams the best of our graduates out of the Province or fails to prepare the others for the 21st century workplace. Jobs today demand literacy, digital capacity and the use of technology. A poorly educated workforce is not an option. The ability to gather and interpret information is essential.

An education system that fails to produce reading and mathematic proficiency early in life is a system that penalizes those who use the system. Advances in computer technology over the last 20 years have touched nearly every segment of our society.

Things like the Internet and e-mail are taken for granted by large segments of the population. Anyone who fails to master these skills will be left by the roadside.


W.E. (Bill) Belliveau is a Shediac resident and Moncton business consultant. He can be contacted at bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com Atlantic Insight is a published Blog inventory of opinion articles published weekly in New Brunswick's print media as written by W.E. (Bill) Belliveau, who is a resident of Shediac, New Brunswick, and small business owner, operating his Moncton-based marketing consultancy, Bell Strategic. He can be reached by e-mail at mailto:bill.bellstrategic@nb.aibn.com